Fire-escape.



W. BERGENROTH. FIRE ESCAPE. APPLICATION FILED PEB.19, 1914.

1, 125,797 Patented Jan. 19, 1915.

2 SHEETSSHEBT 2.

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FIRE-ESCAPE.

Application filed February 19, 1914.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM BERGEN- ROTH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at New York city, borough of Manhattan, county and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in F ire-Escapes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

This invention relates to an improvement in fire-escapes, the object being to provide a cheap and etlicient device by which means a person can escape from a burning building, especially from the upper floors thereof.

A portion of my improved device which consists of a crane arm, is permanently attached to the building (near a window for in stance) the remainder of the device consisting of a belt, to be placed around the waist,

.and a lowering device carried by the belt adapted for attachment to the cranearm.

I will now proceed to describe my invention in detail, the novel features of which I will point out in the appended claims reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part hereof, wherein Figure 1 is a side view of the crane-arm and portion of the fall, illustrated as attached to the wall of a building; Fig. 2 is a plan view of the belt; Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view of the lock for the crane-arm, the section being taken on a line 33 in Fig. 1; Fig. 1 is a vertical section view of the fall; Fig. 5 is an enlarged sectional plan view, the section being taken on a line 55 in Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a similar view, the section being taken on a line 6-6 in Fig. 4.

My invention comprises a crane-arm 1 and support 2 therefor, to be attached to a building, indicated by 3, and a lowering device 4 adapted for attachment to the cranearm 1. The yard-arm 1 consists of a plurality of arms or links 5.pivoted at one end thereof, as at 6, to a block 7. The other end of the upper arm or link 5 is pivoted as at 5 to a block 8 slidably mounted on the support or rod 2. The inner end of the lower arm or link 5 is pivoted, as at 9, to a similar block 10 held stationary by a nut 11 which forces the latter block against the lower bracket 12 supporting the rod 2. The upper end of the rod 2 is secured to a bracket 13, a bracket 14 bracing the rod intermediate the ends thereof. The brackets 12, 13 and Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 19, 1915. Serial No. 819,642.

14 are secured to the wall of the building. The yard-arm 1 is folded position against the wall of the building (see dotted lines 20, Fig. 1) I employ a spring locking mechanism 21 having a handle 23 to enable one to pull the spring away from the link 5 to cause the crane-arm to drop to the position indicated by full lines.

, The function of the lowering device 41 is to support a person and permit him to lower himself to the ground, that is to say, the lowering device is constructed so that the person supported thereby can govern the speed at which he or she will drop by means of clutches or brakes. Should a person let go of the brakes, for any reason, the lower ing device will automatically come to rest, and consequently there is no danger of a person being dashed to the ground.

The lowering device 4 consists of a tubular body portion 24: through which the cable or rope 25 passes to a reel or drum 26 upon which it is wound. The upper or free end of the cable is provided with an eye or loop 27 carrying a snap-catch 28, Fig. 1, designed to be snapped into engagement with the eye 17 on the hanger 16 carried by the cranearm 1. To the lower end of the tubular body-portion 24 is secured a tubular brake or clutch support 29 carrying brake-shoes 30 adapted to engage the cable 25. (See Fig.

To actuate the shoes 30, I provide brakelevers or arms 31 pivoted as at 32 to the brake support 29. The inner end of each brake-arm 31 is provided with a cam 33 F ig. 4-} adapted to force the shoes 30 against the cable when the outer end of the arms 31 are forced upwardly by the spring 34 within the body-portion 24;. Each arm 31 is connected by a link 35 to a slidable head 36, within the body portion 2 1, and contacts with the spring 34. The links 35 are pivotally connected, at one end thereof, to the arms 31 as at 37, and at the other end to the extensions 38, of the head 36, as at 39. The extensions 38 pass through slots 40 in the body portion 24:.

The function of the spring 34 is to force the head 36 upwardly, thereby forcing the arms 31 upwardly, which causes the cams-- 33 to force the shoes 30 against the cable 25 with sutlicient force to prevent the lowering device from dropping. To release the brake the arms 31 will be moved downwardly by pulling downwardly upon the handles 41. The handles 41 are pivoted upon the pins 37 and can be swung upwardly when not in use. The reel 26 is supported by a bracket 42 secured to the brake support 29, and is provided with a handle or crank-arm 48. The reel 26 will be large enough to hold sulficient cable for a high building. The frame 42 is provided with hooks 44 to hold the arms 31 down to keep the shoes 30 away from the cable 25 while the cable is being wound up after use. The lower rail 45 of the reel-frame carries a jaw-member 46 by which means the lowering device and belt 47, Fig. 2, are secured together. The belt 47 carries a bracket 48 which engages the jaw-member 46 of the fall.

To use the device, various methods can be employed; for instance, a person can sit on the sill 49 of the window 15, his feet extending outwardly. The belt with attached lowering device, can then be placed around the waist and buckled. After having fastened the belt, the lowering device can be hooked to the eye 17 of the hanger 16, whereupon the person will slide off the sill, at the same time releasing the latch 21, after which the crane-arm will swing to the full line position, Fig. 1. /Vhen the crane-arm has come to rest the person supported thereby may slightly pull the arms 31 downwardly, which will release the brakeshoes 33. The lowering device and supported body will now drop to the ground, unwinding the reel 26. The speed of the drop is under the control of the person supported thereby. As soon as the weight of the body has been placed upon the lowering device, it (the lowering device) will assume a vertical position, as shown in Fig. 1, bringing the handles about on a line with the chest and within easy reach. The bracket 14, Fig. 1, acts as a stop to limit the unfolding of the yard-arm 1.

Having now described my invention, what Copies of this patent may be obtained for I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination with a crane arm, a block supported at the outer end thereof, a hanger movable vertically through said block, and provided with an eye at its lower end, a spring mounted on said block and supporting said hanger and means adapted to be hung from said eye and comprising a part which is adapted to be lowered at will, with the body of an escaping person attached thereto.

2. A crane arm for a fire escape consisting of a plurality of converging foldable links a block connected to said links at their point of convergence and provided with means for attaching the devices whereby an escaping person is lowered, a vertical rod on which said links are pivoted for lateral movement by sliding means permitting said links to fold against a vertical wall and a spring catch for holding said crane arm in folded position or permitting it to descend at will.

3. A crane arm for a fire escape consisting of converging links connected together at their point of convergence, means connected thereto for attaching the devices whereby an escaping person is lowered, a rod on which said links are pivoted for lateral movement and sliding means for such pivoting whereby said links are permitted to fold against the wall or to descend and extend at will.

4. In combination with a vertical rod, a pair of converging links pivotally and slidably connected thereto, a block connecting the converging ends of said links, devices for holding and lowering an escaping person attached to said block and means for engaging and holding said links in vertical position against said rod when the upper link has been slipped up to its highest point of ascent along said rod, drawing said block and attached devices against the latter.

Signed at New York city, N. Y., this 18 day of February, 1914.

WILLIAM BERGENROTH.

Witnesses:

EDWARD A. JARVIS, h lAURICE BLOCK.

Washington, D. G. i 

